Social Behavior Chapter 15 Social Psychology Topics Conformity and obedience Stanford Milgram s Study processes Study Attitudes Behavior in groups Social Loafing Person perception Stereotypes and Prejudice Stanford Prison Study z Question z Healthy young men agreed to stay for 2 weeks paid Randomly assigned to be prisoners or guards Results z people react when given Participants z How do particular roles distressed helpless panicky Guards some mean malicious and abusive Study was ended after days Learning Objective 7 Evaluating Stanford Study Attributed behavior to influence of social roles about how to behave of the situation Leads some people to abuse Conformity and Obedience Asch s studies Group size and group unanimity studies Question Would people obey an authority and violate their own ethical standards Milgram s Obedience Study z Method Participants told that the experiment on was investigating the effect of learning Instructed to another person when an error was made supposed to be given in ascending sequence L Milgram s Study cont Results participants gave some shock gave all shocks despite cries of pain Many participants but backed down when told to continue Criticisms of study Subjects were highly stressed Extensive without consent Milgram s Study Factors Affecting Obedience z z z z z z When leaves room Victim right there in room Two issuing conflicting demands Non professional Peers in room together Milgram Conclusions z z Obedience is a function of not personality Relationship to authority affects obedience Learning Objective 5 Attributions z Attribution theory People are motivated to explain their own and others Attribute the behavior to a or disposition external attributions Disposition internal attributions Attributions z Actor Observer Bias z Tendency to attribute other people s factors and our behavior to own behavior to the situation attribution error z Tendency to dispositional factors when explaining others behavior Affected by culture more common in individualistic cultures Attributions z Self serving bias When dealing with your own behavior z z z Attribute Attribute actions to disposition actions to situation Affected by culture more prevalent in Western cultures Just world hypothesis Need to believe that good people are rewarded and bad people are punished Can lead to the victim Learning Attitudes z Stable containing beliefs and emotional feelings about a topic z Positive or negative evaluations Explicit we are aware of them z influence our behavior but we are not aware z z Dimensions Strength and Ambivalence z Strength and accessibility are correlated Figure 15 7 The possible components of attitudes Factors Influencing Changes in Attitude factors person sending z message z Credibility Expertise or Trustworthiness Likeability attractiveness Message factors Two sided arguments Validity effect Fear arousing matters Factors Influencing Changes in Attitude factors z Forewarning Disconfirmation bias of existing attitude theory z z z Classical conditioning pair products with positive emotions Operant conditioning Overview Factors Influencing Attitude Change z z Social environment Repetition increases feelings Exposure to a particular perspective from an admired person Linking message to good feelings classical conditioning behavior Need for consistency Cognitive Occurs when a person holds a belief that is incongruent with his or her behavior Coercive Persuasion z z z z z z Under or emotional stress Problems are reduced to one simple often explanation Leader offers love acceptance attention and other positive things New identity is exhibited based on group norms Entrapment Access to is controlled Conformity in Real Life z z z z Jonesville 1978 Branch Davidians Switzerland cult Terrorists z Tendency for all members of a group to think alike and suppress dissent z z z Occurs when need for agreement overwhelms the need to make the wisest decision Can lead to disastrous decisions z Pressure to conform explosion Counteracted by Rewards for dissent or critical thinking Basing decisions on majority rule instead of requiring unanimity Social loafing z More likely when z Members are not for their work Working harder duplicates efforts Workers feel others are getting a free ride Work is Less likely when Individuals are held responsible Each individual must make a distinct necessary contribution Challenge of the job is Stereotypes z z z Belief that all members of a group share common positive negative or neutral Helps processing of new information organizing experiences predicting how people will behave Distort reality differences between groups Produce selective perception differences within groups Prejudice z z Negative characterized by a strong unreasonable dislike of a group or its members Origins z z z z Memory bias remembering only the negative and forgetting the positive attribution bias Observational learning to social identity Defining Measuring Prejudice z z Prejudice can take many forms norms against prejudice z Report exists prejudice even if prejudice Makes prejudice difficult to study Studies of z z prejudice Measure behavior other than self reported attitudes Measure word associations with different target groups Reducing Prejudice z z z z Both sides have equal economic opportunities power Authorities egalitarian norms Both sides work and socialize together Both sides work toward a goal Learning Objective 11 Take home points z z z All humans have potential for good and evil Often depends more on social organization than human nature No is wholly virtuous or villainous